10-26-2012 CT Scan Results

  I got a call from Ruth today at UT on the CT Scans on my head, neck, and lungs. All Clear!!! Thank God. I had not heard Ruth's voice in a while and hearing her talk was like music to my ears. Ruth is stern and even though she shows strength she has a big heart and an excellent nurse. But lets face it, all the ones who worked on me are excellent. I have some excellent support from family and friends (especially Kim), who was and is a life saver. With all of this though I'll have to say prayers and well wishes are the strongest medicine. So that was good. I still go to the Optometrist (think I got that right) next week for the double vision and sometimes dizzy spells. I've had my arteries checked in my neck and they're pretty clear, I think one had 20% blockage, not enough to worry about. I'm still wondering about sinuses.

  Today me and Megan took off the trash and burned some piles of old wood and weeds, plus a few leaves. I took the lawnmower and vacuumed up the leaves here. I got it running but something just ain't quite right. I tilled the ground again where the Garlic will go, it still needs tilled with the sphagnum moss in it. Nov 3rd the signs will be in the breast so Denise is wanting to do it then. Me and Megan took a roll of hay to the cows. They didn't seem to interested in it. We were there about 30 minutes counting, kept coming up with different numbers, lol. Finally we both come up with 32 twice each. I transplanted a cactus tonight using the roll it in newspaper method, aka splinters. I read that somewhere, must have missed some major point. Knowledge is what you obtain from reading, observing, or listening. Wisdom is what you obtain right after you needed it. I also figured out real fast that cactus needles must shed in the soil. Found that out poking my fingers to tighten the soil in the new pot. :)

  Despite the lack of sun exposure, my Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma is staying fairly stable. I got one tumor in my arm, had it quite a while now. I may get it took out one day. I've a few patches, but nothing unusual. Denise has Apples again... more Apple Butter coming up. She done good the last batch.

  We also started burning out a spot for all those tiny trees I bought, they were cheap. Mostly Almond and Pecan Trees. Funny, I wasn't sure I would ever taste a nut from them but now it looks promising. I bought them like I did all the other fruit trees, bamboo, and plants knowing that if I never get to use them hopefully those left behind will enjoy them.

  I'm not sure if Panella reads this anymore, or the ladies and gentlemen at UT who have worked on me. Or Rathfoot or Smith and their crew. I'm sorry I'm not a good patient but please know that I do listen. I have you all, UT, and St Mary's held at the highest esteem, the greatest respect. You all have been great to me, and I thank you. I didn't expect to get this far and through you God has gotten me way beyond my expectations. I think over time you figured out I don't fear death, at the same time though I don't fear life either. God has allowed me more time through your care, and I thank Him and you all for that. I get to badger my kids, grandkids, and especially Denise, whom I would not be without her.

  As for many more, some say I've seen a lot, and I have, but some see more everyday. I have a residual of Lyme's Disease, Heart problems, high BP, 2 cancers (1- I still have), arthritis (from Lymes and ignorance), Pernicious Anemia, COPD (coughing up phlegm dammit),  neuropathy, sleep apnea, and just plain ignorance... just for starters. Filling out those forms to see a doctor is like writing a Biography. :) I still say I am the most blessed man alive. I have a great wife, my kids are clean and good, grandchildren that are wonderful and fun, mom that has a massive heart and an optimist. I have so many friends, some I've met face to face and some not... and some I don't know yet. Like most I have ways I'd rather not die, but at the same time I would rather not live any other way that I have, for through that I am surrounded by great people. In my lifetime so far, God has provided me far better than I deserve. Just wanted you all to know that.               

See Ya Later Russell Means

  Today God called Russell Means home today and today the world lost a little light. We never met face to face but over the years we became friends. He had throat cancer and got better, then I changed my email server and lost his email. I kept saying I was going to find it, but I waited a bit long. Denise called to tell me from her work that Chief Means died, I considered him a chief and a hero. He was 72 the last time we talked. Please pray for his family. We will meet him one day in a better place. For now our hearts are heavy. Please pray for his wife and family that their pain be eased.   

Go well my brother.

10-19-2012 Follow-Ups

  We went to UT Cancer Center and my first appointment was with Dr Rathfoot. We got there early though to know where Dr Panella and his crew had gone too. They got the new cancer center open. No more Chemo Hut, now it's Chemo Cove and set up nicely. We ate some french fries at the cafeteria and I kept an open eye for Jackie (my cousin), but I haven't a clue what or where she works.

  So we head to the appointment with Rathfoot and he scopes me regularly then to see if he sees where the blood is coming from, he goes to or through, I think just to, the voice box. I got a lot of yeast in my throat and on my vocals. The absence of saliva glands (1 works partly sometimes) had also lead to drying the throat.  The fatigue is also a possibility from this stuff.

  A bit of a surprise  came from he noticed the arthritis has increased in my neck. He said radiation has sped it up a bit.  He ups the Ralaflen (spelling?) dose.So now it turns our to help the damage swelling and bones as well. He wasn't sure about the double vision I've had on and off lately.

  So then we head to Dr Panella. Panella said it was officially the 3 year mark since the cancer, and this was to be his last. He said they'd forgotten to check again on the nodules on my lungs from 5 months ago, but with the double vision attacks he has ordered a CT for my chest, neck, and head. He also ordered an eye doctor see me, one that is high up and does surgeries. He wants to rule out the possibility of it following what they term the tree it sometimes follows. After  I have the test we go to the eye dr then to Panella. I've learned to not ask about the neuropathy. They are moving pretty quickly on it. Hopefully it is just another side effect, the hearing loss, double vision, eyesight loss. All this starts next week.            

10-17-2012

  I go this week for 2 follow-ups, Rathfoot & Panella. These are less than an hour apart but both are at UT. I look forward to especially Rathfoot and his scope this time. I have been having to clear up blood each morning this week, except yesterday it was just tinged. Denise seems to think the blood and bleeding is from yeast in my throat again. It takes quite an effort to get it all up each morning and depending on just how much is how or if my throat is sore or not. I've never quite got back on track from the last bush hog event. I have a lot to go but I'm almost afraid to do it. Denise also says a yeast infection would be a part of my fatigue and body pain. I hope she is right.

  Today me and Megan went on the hill to make some fence repairs, set 7 posts and reattached the wire on some of the old ones and attached the wires to the new ones. It will need more work but that will do for now. Neuropathy once again comes in handy, from the briars I look like I got in a fight with a cat and lost, paper thin skin. I'll be looking for festered spots as the thorns work themselves out.  Megan is a lot of help in doing things these days. Still haven't finished the Sunroom molding, may not get finished again this year. I've also got to fix the lawn mower again, if nothing else it is a lifesaver taking the feed to the chickens. And I still haven't put the new roofs on the buildings, maybe soon though. I have to work around the neuropathy, weather and add to that lately double vision at times. Shame it doesn't happen when I'm looking at a dollar. :)

  I fell off the Gluten-Free diet this week too. Denise is sticking to it, lost 13 lbs so far and Megan says she won't come off it either, her sinuses have cleared up, acid reflux gone, weight down, and energy up. None of us bloat either. The chickens and dogs have enjoyed this diet from time to time when I try a new recipe that don't turn out. White sandwich bread is what we like though and seems the hardest one to imitate, but thats covered now. I want to try a French Loaf (long one) and have herb and garlic on it. The chocolate chip cookies though have been the best so far. I sort of lost heart for a while after seeing the Paleo Diet, I think that is a bit much and a bit in excess. Moderation is usually the key to things, which seems to be lacking these days in everything. I will have to admit though that I think gluten is the key to many problems, especially acid reflux and weight.

  So after the visits this week I'll be posting again on the results, be that good or bad. I figure we have a certain numbers of breaths God gives us from the time we arrive. What we do with those breaths He leaves up to us. As was once said,  "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away." - Hilary Cooper 

10-3-2012

  This month starts the check-ups again and today a new test. They checked the Arteries in my neck for blockage. The left showed some blockage but not enough to be alarmed or worried about, the right was clean. I have to go to Dr. Panella this round and have a chest X-Ray before going for the visit. Throat cancer he said can follow a tree of lungs and brain, but no brain scan or x-ray is scheduled. I have confidence that he wouldn't order anything I don't need and orders what he thinks I will. Dr Rathfoot comes I think right before Dr. Panella, hopefully he will do the scope. I never thought I'd ever say anything like that but it's strange how one can get use to something and learn to look forward to a little discomfort for security and confidence. Yeast infection again and so I had to do the Flukinol (spelling ?) to get rid of it.

  I haven't mowed the yard at either house in a month, didn't bush hog again either. It almost seems I can't quite get on top of it. The Acid Reflux has went way down since we started limiting the Gluten. We try as much as we can to do Gluten-Free in our foods, seems to be working out for all of us, but sometimes we stumble and tonight I fell off a bit. :) Denise has lost 13lbs and I've lost 10, though how I have no idea with all the cookies. I seem to rest better at night too. It makes it a lot better just eating your food once I guess.

  Everything is a push right now. The hay is in, though 120 rolls and already we have 31 cows and calves total. If it's a hard winter that may not be enough. Frost is going to set in here they say this weekend so the field back here Mark won't get cut in time to bale, that also means an early start to feeding. That equates to finishing the trim and 2 planks in the Sunroom before we bring the Banana Plants and Palms indoors. Winter proofing some stuff too. I use to do this stuff without a second thought in a day or two. At  night I research recipes and stuff, print them out and put in a notebook. Misty baked her 1st successful loaf of bread. If they come down this weekend I told her to pick one of the bread machines out. She's baking regular wheat bread and we have the two, older but like new. We only need one and I usually oven bake now. Baking wheat bread I'd rather use a bread machine. She does her blog on Autism and so far has a good response.

  Speaking of, Misty, here is the Cookie Recipe from the final tweaking you and the kids like. 

 1/3 Cup Millet Flour (I mixed 1/2 the last time. :) )
 1/2 Cup Buckwheat Flour (light)
 1/2 Cup Oat Flour
 2   Teaspoons of Vanilla Extract (or a bit more give or take)
 1/2 Cup of Butter
 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
 1/2 Cup of White Sugar
 1/4 Teaspoon Salt (non Iodized)
 1/2 Teaspoon of Baking Soda
 1 Egg
 1 Cup Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

  Mix all the dry stuff together well, the start by adding the Brown Sugar and head for wet. After you have it mixed well then add the Chocolate Chips and let just mix in enough to mix in.

They do better as far as not running if you let the dough chill in the fridge or freezer for a little bit. For thinner cookies though just place them directly on the baking sheet. I put ours in little balls on a butter greased cookie sheet or pan.

  At 375 Degrees F on the average they take 10-12 minutes, but sometimes.... 

 

We Finally got it

  We finally got it today, a decent bread. My throat has been reacting to something outside and I still haven't got this stuff shook off, so me and Megan played. We ended with with a good Chocolate Chip Cookie thats Gluten-Free, one that doesn't bite back and you can throw like a Frisbee, use as a Skeet, or load as Buckshot. Better yet, we ended up with a good White Sandwich Bread, aka Lightbread. The loaf is actually light too, that ends the boat anchor days, lol.

  I don't have Celiac Disease, probably spelled that wrong :), but since we've tried this Denise and I have both lost weight. Oddly enough I feel better in a way, despite the throat thing and yeast in my throat and best of all the Acid Reflux has stopped. We don't stay hungry and yet we eat as much as we want and fill up fast. I even like some Pastas, especially if they involve meat and cheese. Ok, I tolerate them. I seem to have a bit more energy considering. I'm a bread person, love bread, and I don't care how healthy or unhealthy something is, if it tastes bad I won't eat it. We've spent a fortune on Flours and I guess it all depends on your tastes as to which one, but we only needed two all this time for bread and two for the cookies. I hate whole wheat and oddly enough it is the one that is easiest to imitate. The chickens have loved this trial and error thing, and I stress the word error. I grew up poor so I don't need a fancy bread. We have tried it yet making Biscuits yet, thats next. So here is what we have.

    Almost Perfect White Sandwich Bread Finally I think I found what we like. We're White Bread eaters here, none of us like Whole Grain Bread. I took parts from 2 Recipes, one for the "Master Mix" as they call it and one from a person who uses the other person's "Master Mix", then added my own twist. I did forget to add the Butter though. With Gluten-Free anything, you tweak until you find what your looking for.

For the Master Mix it goes like this:
3 Cups Brown Rice Flour
3 Cups Corn Starch
2 Cups Sorghum Flour
1 Cup Masa Harina (Found in the Hispanic Section)

Almost Perfect White Sandwich Bread

3 Bowl Mixture taken from 2 Recipes I found on the web with a twist. First is to mix the yeast/Sugar/Water in Wet Bowl 1.

Dry Bowl :
2- 1/2 Cups of Flour Mixture.
4 TBSP of Cane Sugar.
1 TBSP of Salt. (Kosher or Sea Salt
2 TBSP Powdered Buttermilk
2 TBSP of Powdered Milk
2 TSP of Xanthan Gum

Mix these together well and blend.

Wet Bowls: There are 2 wet bowls.

Wet Bowl 1:

1 PKT of Bread Yeast
1 TBSP of Sugar (Cane)
1-1/2 Cups of water at least 110 degrees F.

Mix and this will activate the yeast as it feeds on the sugar and it will look sorta foamy. I think the Yeast can be substituted, but I'm not sure. 

Wet Bowl 2:

3 Eggs
1-1/2 TBSP of Oil (I used Virgin Olive Oil)
TSP of Apple Cider Vinegar

Mix these together to the point of a foamy like stuff. Add these contents to the dry bowl mix and then add the contents of Wet Bowl 1, the yeast/sugar/water mix.

Blend together and increase speed to fast for about 4-5 minutes at the least. Have a bread pan already prepped, I used a spray. Use the Spatula or whatever your comfortable with to put it into the Bread Pan. Wet your Spatula to even out the dough, it's sticky and cover loosely with Cellophane and set in a warm place. I use the Plate Warmer part of the stove and a Bread Wire. Begin to preheat the Oven to 375 degrees F.

Leave the dough covered (but where gas can get out) until it rises to the top or at least doubles in size. It took a hour give or take for it to rise to satisfaction. Now is a good time to bake cookies or do whatever and check back every so often. Ours seemed to set there and when it started it started.

We baked it for 50 minutes, give or take. If the top gets too dark loosely cover the top with Aluminum Foil. Make sure though that with a thermometer, the inside temperature is at least 205.

A good lesson I learned today too. I had heard not to take it out of the bread pan for a while, I did and it fell and shrunk. You can't tell it though in taste and air pockets inside, plus fluffiness from Lightbread made from wheat.

Gluten-Free

  Oh my, I think I need to go back to eating Gluten, I think I'm gaining weight from eating this stuff. I definitely don't bloat anymore and feel better, except for the weight thing, lol. I actually haven't weighed myself, but it feels like I've gained. Denise, Megan, and mom all say they feel better. So today me and Megan went back to baking a loaf of bread again. I just got good at baking regular bread, big difference than store bought, and used a bread machine. We have 2, one from a yard sale and one mom gave me years ago, they don't do Gluten-Free. The thing I found so far is that Pasta is pretty good. I never liked Pasta, thought it flavorless. The Gluten Free Pasta though is actually pretty good. Now I'm trying to figure out how weight loss with this diet happens.

  I spent weeks prepping for this and still feel like I'm filling the Grand Canyon, one rock at a time with all the information of mixing and baking it. So today we went back to baking again and this one turned out great. First one tasteless from a book recipe. Second one pretty good but lacking what we liked based on the white bread I learned to make. Tweaked that recipe to get the flavor preferred. I probably just took a healthy recipe and destroyed it, lol. I mixed a lot of the flour up from the book and this stuff ain't cheap, so I didn't want it to go to waste. Since this bread turned out like we liked and my handwriting looks bad I need to put it somewhere. Plus a friend or two asked. So here goes.

 The flour mixture I had a lot mixed up of that I thought didn't have a taste: (Not sure I'd make that again) Blended (mixed) together.

(I think the picture will get larger by clicking on it)

Mixed from the Book

1 1/2 cups of Sorghum Flour
1 1/2 Cups of Potato Flour (or starch)
1 Cup Tapioca Flour

For the bread today that we liked it goes as follows:

Dry Mixture

1 1/4 cup (above mixture)
3/4    cup of White Rice Flour
1       cup of Brown Rice Flour
2 Tablespoons of Flax Flour (actually a rough type)
2 Tablespoons of Sugar (white)
2 Tablespoons of Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon of Yeast
1 Tablespoon of course Sea Salt. 
        Mix together to be one blend

 Separate Wet Mix

3    whole large eggs (Use Fresh eggs, we have chickens)

1    very warm cup of Buttermilk

1/4 cup of Butter (We used Amish Butter) melted

1    Tablespoon of White Sugar

1/4 cup of Virgin Olive Oil

         Mix together to be one blend

Mix the two together, dry and wet. 

As it mixes add about 1/4 cup of Honey. 

This stuff mixes for a few (about 5) minutes. 

We have a plate warmer type thing on our stove. We covered it with Aluminum Foil lightly. It needs to be about 80 degrees. Let it sit for an hour. 

Take the Spatula and punch it, deflating it from the rise. Put into the Bread Pan, which I lightly dust with White Rice Flour. Level it out and even it us as best you can. This stuff is sticky so drip your Spatula in water as needed.

Place foil or cellophane over it and wait until it rises even with the top of the pan. (Usually 5-20 minutes). Remove the Cellophane.

Have the oven preheated for 350 F for 1 hour. Make sure though it has gotten at least 205 F before taking it out, may have to wait additional time. 

If it starts getting too brown toss the foil back over the top. I take it out of the pan immediately, worked so far. :) I think it's suppose to cool before you cut it, but it never makes it that long.